Putin's visit to Shanghai marks an eastward shift for Russian economy

Nina Achmatova

The Kremlin's chief is coming accompanied by a large delegation representing 46 companies, including Russia's oil and gas giants. Moscow hopes to sign a long-awaited contract for gas supplies from Siberia to China with deals in 40 other priority areas in the pipeline. Ukraine will also be discussed.

Moscow
(AsiaNews) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on an
official visit tomorrow and Wednesday. He will be accompanied by a large
delegation that includes officials from state-owned companies. For Russian
media, the visit represents the most ambitious bilateral talks in recent
decades with the People's Republic of China.

Putin's official
visit to China coincides with a session of the Conference on Interaction and
Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai, and will provide the
Russian leader with an opportunity to ink a large package of documents, including
some 40 deals, contracts, and understandings that Moscow hopes will include a 30-year
contract to supply Russian gas to China.

Although the economy
will take centre stage, the Ukrainian crisis and possible Sino-Russian coordination
in the touchy matter will probably be discusses as well, especially since the former
Soviet republic goes to the polls next Sunday and tensions between Russia and
the West are not letting up.

For Russia's Kommersant newspaper, Putin's visit is
part of Moscow's new 'eastern strategy'. In addition to markets for Russia's military
industry and energy sector, China is in fact an attractive source for foreign
investments, especially at a time when its traditional markets - Europe for
example - have been damaged by the crisis in Ukraine.

For China, in
addition to a real interest in Russian energy supplies, Moscow's international
isolation is a bonus, the paper noted.

The Russian
delegation in Shanghai, where Putin will meet with President Xi Jinping, will included
officials from 46 companies, including oil and gas giants Gazprom, Rosneft and
Novatek.

"Today, Russia
firmly places China at the top of its foreign trade partners," Putin said. "In
2013, the volume of bilateral trade was close to billion, which is far from
being the limit. We will try to increase trade turnover to 0 billion by 2015
and up to 0 billion by 2020."

For Moscow,
the real goal is getting a gas deal since its markets in Europe now look shaky
because of Western Europe's desire to reduce its dependency on Russia and
American plans to export shale gas. Indeed, rising tensions
with the West over the Ukraine have spurred negotiations with Beijing after a
hiatus of ten years due to prices.

In view of the international
situation, state giant Gazprom has even hinted that it might be flexible in
order to get a deal.

An optimistic Putin
seems certain that the two sides will reach an understanding, if not sign a contract
right away. This will enable Russia to supply China with 38 billion cubic metres
(bcm) of gas a year from its own Asia-Pacific region.

So far, a lot of
work has been done, Putin said in an interview in which he outlined the areas
of Sino-Russian cooperation: atomic energy, space, pharmaceuticals, information
technology, joint wide-body long-range aircraft and helicopter production.

Investments into
the joint Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) will soon surpass US billion,
the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said. The Fund is designed to
promote economic development in the Russian Far East.

Moscow hopes the
visit will be the beginning of a new Sino-Russian partnership and strategic
cooperation, including discussion about the Ukraine, even though it is not
officially on the agenda.

Putin has hinted
that he is looking for a partner and will work with Beijing on the matter. Both
Russia and China agree that changing the outcome of World War II is "unacceptable"
and that their opposed to "attempts to falsify history" and "turn fascists into
heroes", a charge the Kremlin has levelled against the Ukrainian government.

As evidence
of Russia's
new found interest in the East, in Shanghai Putin will also meet with Mongolian
President Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

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Putin's visit to Shanghai marks an eastward shift for Russian economy North Asia East Asia China Russia The Kremlin's chief is coming accompanied by a large delegation representing 46 companies, including Russia's oil and gas giants. Moscow hopes to sign a long-awaited contract for gas supplies from Siberia to China with deals in 40 other priority areas in the pipeline. Ukraine will also be discussed.

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